McHenry Times

There were 987 Black students enrolled in McHenry County school districts in the 2022-23 school year, 8.2% more than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Data showed that Black students made up 2.2% of the 45,580 students in the county. They were the third least represented ethnicity at the time.

Among the 18 districts in McHenry County, Huntley Community School District 158 recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2022-23 school year, with a total of 298 students.

The main offices of all districts mentioned in the story are located in cities associated with McHenry County.

In 2022, Illinois had 1,925,415 students enrolled in a total of 3,977 schools. There were 130,467 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 15 students, compared to the national average of 1:16.

K-12 enrollment has been declining in Illinois for many years, reflecting demographic changes. Combined public and private K-12 enrollment dropped 3% between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years (60,900 students), far more than the typical 0.5% to 1.5% annual enrollment declines in Illinois over the last 5 years.

District	Black Student Enrollment Percentage	Total enrollment
Huntley Community School District 158	3.5%	8,548
Woodstock Community Unit School District 200	4.3%	6,187
Crystal Lake Community Consolidated School District 47	2.5%	7,098
Community High School District 155	1.8%	5,394
McHenry Community Consolidated School District 15	1.4%	4,056
Harvard Community Unit School District 50	1.1%	2,489
McHenry Community High School District 156	1.1%	2,190
Johnsburg Community Unit School District 12	1.4%	1,682
Cary Community Consolidated School District 26	0.8%	2,307